In which I discuss (with glee) Rejection

I am giddy. Last night I got my first rejection from a query I sent out on my mid-grade novel for girls 9-14 years old. (I'm working on two novels at the moment, this mid-grade and a historical ethereal period piece.) I jumped for joy and was so excited. Why would I be excited over rejection? Because it was personal rejection and in the writing world, that's everything. The agent told me that she had strongly considered representing me. Then she said some encouraging words about seeing me in print. This is awesome. The letter was very personal, nothing form about it. Many queries never even get a response, let alone something other than a form letter.

I, of course, responded, thanking her for her comments and with encouragement for her to keep me in mind.

Here is what I take from this piece of rejection:

• It was my first query on my first novel and I got a personalized rejection- HUGE
• A big-time agent at a big-time agency considered representing me for eight weeks before passing.
• If the first person I sent it to was interested, there are others and one of them will pick me up.
• I AM good at this writing thing and I will succeed.

I feel bad for poor Emily (the agent) who, in the end, when I have my bestseller, will be devastated that she passed. (By the way, if this sounds overly confident it is only making up for the dismal writing time I had last month in which I nearly deleted both novels in their entirety!)

Keep the rejections coming baby! I need them so that some day I can wallpaper the walls of my writing studio with them.